Varys (Secrets of Arcana)

BACKGROUND

Hometown: Blackrain Bay

"Your mother was in labor for hours and hours. As soon as night came, there you were—like a little ray of light. Our light."

It's cheesy, but that was what Varys had come to accept in his parents' overly doting parenting style. Yet there was some strange...truth to what his father said, if only because of their strong belief in Inara light and Narcissa’s moon. For generations, his father's family always believed that those born during the absence of light, under the moon, were touched with "great fortune." What that was supposed to entail, Varys could not say, but he let his parents ramble and prattle on about things he could not understand. After all, it was nice to be loved despite.

Varys and his family grew up on their own plot of land in Blackrain Bay; they lived somewhat secluded from the masses, but with how open the roadways were in Blackrain, it was commonplace that it would take ten to fifteen minutes sometimes to reach your neighbors if they weren't in the major city. Not to mention even longer to drive to the residential area. On the farm, life was simply what you made it—you could live off the land, own some farm animals, sell your crops and make a little profit. Though Varys and his family weren't living a middle-class life by any means, they weren't worse off either.

Originally, Varys' father hadn't always lived in Blackrain Bay, as his story went. As Varys was told when he got a little older to understand the concept of money, his dad had been in debt bad when he had lived in Aethinía. Debtors who would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he had not paid them back, he'd said, and it wasn't a crowd he was eager to have tangle with his family again. He had been left with nothing after using everything he had to ward them off. Managing a farm and meeting his now-wife had been his saving grace. There was a reason Varys did not know any family on his father's side.

So Varys told himself that when he got older, however much money his father had lost on account of getting mixed up with some not-so-great individuals, he could make that back. The fact that his father kept a stash, and also enveloped something to someone on occasion, was not lost on Varys.

When he was younger, he soon learned that he had a particular knack for feeling out people and their emotions. Knowing this truly tested his moral character as a child, and when his mother learned of Varys' emerging Emotions domain, she made it a point to instill in him the ethics of right and wrong when it came to what he could and could not do. But sometimes he just wanted to be left alone, and the only way to do that might have been nudging them away with a spell. It wasn't always on purpose.

But Varys wasn't the only child in school who could tamper with the emotions of others, and he quickly understood why his mother was adamant in her scolding. He heard the gossip—the uncertainty of whether friends were really friends or made to feel friendly. And it happened on both sides too. It was why he learned to better clamp down on his emotions, learning the duplicitous nature of having a "public" persona and a "private" one. If you asked anyone he had graduated with how he was, you would have gotten mixed responses.

Regardless, Varys soon learned how to turn his emotions into something productive. Something tangible, which ended up not only being the gateway to his first relationship in high school, but his first aspiration. His parents had worried that his life on the farm would be all he would know—that he had lost his wonder from childhood and did not wish to explore the world, regardless of all his father had told him. After all, for so long Varys had been complacent with the thought that he would stay in Blackrain for all of his life and take over when his parents grew too old and weary. But after his first crystalized heart, he saw a business opportunity that he wished to pursue.

So, bucking up some courage—and heeding the warnings of his father—he decided to go straight to the belly of the beast. Aethinía.

It wasn't easy finding something without a university degree, thanks to how absolutely broken the system was. It wasn't as though his family had the money to afford it either way, but Varys didn't feel any real desire to go either. His work with his father—accompanying him on his sell days and starting his own little selling ventures—he felt was more than enough business experience. Some odd jobs here and there weren't so difficult to find.

But opportunity fell in his lap in the form of an advertisement: "Looking for one personal assistant to Ivory Clovis. Must be able to work late nights. Contact for more information." And the pay was astronomically high. How could he compete with the thousands of other applicants vying for the same position? Apparently, it was a somewhat-coveted job.

Well, luck would have it, Ivory actually hired him. And from there, Varys' life spiraled out of control.

A life he wouldn't have touched in Blackrain assailed him now. Parties to attend with the missus, important people with busy schedules to align, hundreds of annoying admirers looking for a wine tour with Ivory—or a wine evening with just her alone. As a greenhorn in the industry, Varys had to learn a lot and quickly.

It wasn't the job that was the problem; no, he liked the job well enough. It taught him a lot about himself, about the wine industry, about how the wealthy lived and about some of the big-name families in Aethinía. Ivory was a good boss, and he liked her, but that was the problem. He liked her. He was nearly struck at first sight. For his boss. His employer. He wouldn't have taken it if he hadn't thought he could ignore it. People in Aethinía had a more refined and tailored look to them, so how could he not be taken aback?

But then it got worse...and worse...and worse until Varys decided for a change in location. Not to quit (gods know he could never be smart enough to do that), but to at least work away from home. Now that he'd made a sum under his employment with Ivory, and some years under his belt, he could afford to assist her from afar while he started something of his own. And of course Ivory wouldn't let go of her favorite assistant, her words.

A remote island in the middle of the ocean, hard to get to and even harder to visit. Yeah, that sounded like the perfect place. Only a shame he had not listened to the rumors…

PERSONALITY

STATS

SPELLS

"SHOT THROUGH THE HEART" - Emotion

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Varys’ eyes take on a softer appearance. In fact, to those affected by this spell, Varys appears a little blurred, as if all of the hard edges were wiped away. This spell effectively calms down others when their emotions are in the way too overwhelming to handle. Sometimes he’ll activate this spell by pointing his finger at the target, firing like a gun. The gesture has no bearing on being able to use the spell or not and is more for flavor when he’s feeling saucy.

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"LOVE BOMB" - Creation | Emotion

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Varys connects with an individual, reading their emotions. Any feeling he can latch onto in them, whether love or fear or happiness, he can make a crystal heart from. This crystal heart can be a decorative piece, but if shattered, it will temporarily release those feelings, causing those in the vicinity to experience the same emotion (affects a small radius). To create the crystal, this spell depends on touch. He can also make his own, but typically prefers not to.

Different colors of the crystal signify the different emotions:

• red (intense love)
• pink (happiness)
• yellow (fear)
• black (hatred/wrath)
• blue (sadness)
• green (slugishness)
• white (neutral)

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"HEARTS A FLUTTER" - Light | Emotion

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A pair of translucent, feathered wings form around Varys’ back. The wings are bright and ethereal in appearance, almost as if glowing from pure light. With these wings, he can:

• Illuminate dark spaces around him.
• Send out an intangible “pulse” that’s like a heartbeat by flapping his wings, which causes those in the area to feel more confident.
• Scatter light “feathers” that disappear upon contact, causing the individual to either feel safe (ally) or anxious (enemy); respectively, this draws a person either near him or repels them away.

The wings will only last for fifteen minutes, or when dispelled (voluntarily or involuntarily.) Afterward, Varys needs to rest, and the wings cannot be used until the next day.